Understanding your NBN status

You may have checked your address in our handy NBN™ Coverage Checker. If you haven’t – head over there now so you know what we’re talking about!

If you select the “NBN™ Coverage Map” tab and enter your address, our NBN™ Coverage Map will reveal the type of NBN™ technology that will be rolled out in your area, what stage of construction it’s at, and the expected availability date. If you’re finding it difficult to decipher exactly what’s happening at your address, no worries! We’ve put together a guide to break it down for you and help you understand the results.

Which technology is which?

The NBN™ is rolling out a ‘multi-technology mix’, which includes a variety of fibre optic cable, copper wire and coaxial cable networks. That means that you and your friend may be getting different technology types when it comes to the NBN™.

So far, the full range of technologies includes:

NBN™ Fibre

State of the art fibre optic cables deliver broadband directly to your premises (geeky types call it FTTP or Fibre to the Premises).

NBN™ FTTB and FTTN

Fibre optic cables connect to your building or a node in your street (or a street nearby) and existing copper cables deliver broadband to your premises.

An antenna is installed on your roof that delivers broadband from a dedicated NBN™ Wireless tower in your area.

NBN™ Satellite

A satellite dish is installed on your roof that delivers broadband from a dedicated NBN Satellite in the Sky.

Not to be confused with NBN™’s Interim Satellite Service (ISS), this new Satellite – dubbed Sky Muster™ – is part of NBN™’s Long Term Satellite Service (LTSS) and boasts the fastest speeds and largest capacity in Australia satellite broadband history.

It’s important to keep in mind that all NBN™ connections are different, not only in name but infrastructure, as well. This means that depending on the technology and location of your address, the speeds you’ll experience may vary.

What stage am I?

As the NBN™ is being rolled out, you can suss out the service stage of your address and the estimated completion dates. If your address is coming up as “not available” just yet on our NBN™ Coverage Checker, jump across to the NBN™ Coverage Map to see what stage your address is in. The three stages are summarised below:

It’s very rare but not everything always goes to plan and sometimes there are nbn co construction delays. If you notice that your status has changed, it’s most likely due to factors such as severe weather, technician availability or further infrastructure requirements. It’s not unusual to be ready to pre-order and then have your address moved back into the planning stage. It’s okay, though; there’s no need to be alarmed. With such a big rollout in store, nbn co may need to change the rollout dates in certain areas – but you know what they say – good things come to those who wait!

If you’re eager to get movin’ and your address is expected to be NBN™- ready within the next 3 months, you can pre-order iiNet NBN™ for a hassle-free switch and we’ll get your order rolling as soon as NBN™ reaches your door. Just pre-order your preferred plan now, then sit back, put your feet up and relax knowing you’ll be connected with a truly satisfying NBN™ provider.

If you have a question about the rollout stage at your address, let us know in the comments!

102 comments

The nbn roll-out has been a disgrace. Living in the suburbs of a major city (Perth), less than 8km from the CBD and we have been marooned with 4Mb internet since moving here in 2013. NBN isn’t here until late 2018 either. Farcical in 2017.

Hello Darragh, if you’re currently on an ADSL service then your service speed will be affected not by your distance from the CBD but rather your distance to the nearest exchange. The further away you are, the slower your connection will be. That’s the nature of the infrastructure.

That being said if you are experiencing issues with your connection speed then our support team will be more than happy to assist on 13 22 58. Please give us a call if you require our assistance.

NBN advises service is not available at my address. The implication was that iiNet has not purchased sufficient bandwidth to make a minimum 25mb speed viable. Supported by the present ACCC investigation.

Hello Michael, if the NBN rollout has been completed in your area then you should be able to sign-up for an NBN service. There are some rare exceptions, however you can check the availability of NBN services either using the NBN Coverage Checker in the article above or by contacting our sales team on 13 19 17 who will be happy to provide assistance.

I spend most of my daily and nightly hours at my home and I would notice if some NBN workers were at work or tea breaks. So the Coverage Checker is quite superfluous. The Coverage Map promised me to give me the information of my interest. But it doesn’t. Have you tried to locate the pin anywhere close to your street?
If this is an effort toward customer information and transparency, we’ll, it is a failure. As is the entire NBN project, I am told.

Hello Fred, if you’re using the coverage map you can type your address into the box in the top-left corner and it will advise on whether the NBN is currently available (or when it is estimated to arrive) and which technology will be used to service your area.

If you have any questions then our sales team on 13 19 17 will be more than happy to provide assistance and answer any questions that you might have.

Hello, yes I filled out the NBN Pre Order and a page came up waiver. After submitting this application I wondered what does WAIVER mean for me. I phoned your IINet number and got someone overseas who had no idea what I was talking about saying “Yes Yes all is ok for you Mamme” and you know I still dont know what I signed up for. WHAT DOES WAIVER MEAN FOR ME PLEASE. Kind regards Judy DB

Hello Judith, it sounds like you’re referring to the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG). Put simply the CSG means that in the event of an outage on your home phone service we promise to meet certain minimum performance standards to rectify the situation and provide financial compensation if these are not met. Details about the CSG can be found here – https://www.iinet.net.au/about/legal/csg/

We ask that customers waive this right when signing up for Netphone services (and as of 05/07/2016 PSTN services). This does not mean that we are any less committed to restoring faults quickly and with minimum interruption as per the connection timeframes set out by the CSG, however it does mean that we can pass on significant cost benefits to our users.

If you are signing up for a fixed line NBN service then you will likely be using a Netphone as opposed to a traditional PSTN home phone. The main difference is that a Netphone service uses the Internet to make calls whereas a home phone does not. However in most cases you should be able to port your phone number across, and it functions in very much the same way as a landline service.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to our sales team on 13 19 17 and we will be more than happy to help.

My street NBN FTTN was rolled out about 12 months ago however the last 3 houses were not connected as we are said to be too far from the node ie 1.6Km.
I cannot receive any information from you or the NBN on what technology they are to use to connect us & when.

A frustrating time as we cannot have ADSL as we are too far from the exchange so wireless is the only available broadband which is ridiculously expensive.

I do not expect any answer from you as you are all in the dark as to what is happening.

Hello John, this certainly must be frustrating experience and whilst I may not be able to do a lot if it’s been determined that you are outside the range of the Node, I would at least like to cast a fresh set of eyes over this to see if anything can be done for you. If you wanted to send me through a reference number or a recent invoice number (c.may@corporate.iinet.net.au) I’d be happy to look into this for you.

Do you have any people who can come around and explain exactly and show us what is going on and how it works especially plans, because when some one starts to talk about FTTN and FTTB, gigs, new Modems, Nodes , No phones, Etc. I am completely confused and must be shown and not to be read.

After spending 2 weeks without a ‘phone and then spending over 2 hrs speaking with your rep in S.Africa, we believe we were connected 28th June as both our ‘phone and internet are now working. No improvement on what we had before.
We haven’t had any acknowledgement from you as how our previous credit is being used as we had already paid our internet in advance to April 2018.
An update here would be appreciated.

Hello Terence, glad to hear that your service has been connected! As this is a public blog I am unable to provide any account specific information here, however please feel free to contact our billing team on 13 22 58 who will be able to assist you further.

Hello Anthony, thanks for getting in touch. If you are experiencing issues with your connection speeds I’d recommend giving our support team a call on 1300 786 068 so that we can troubleshoot your connection and work towards identifying and resolving any issues.

iiNet has been providing NBN to me since early last year.
You don’t come across as an efficient supplier when you send emails like this.
By the way the third button from the left in the top line appears as Opiinions. Maybe you need two eyes to read all of these.
Maurie

Great to hear you already have NBN! You receive those emails because your account is subscribed to the monthly NBN newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive them, all you need to do is click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

As for the “Opiinions”, it’s deliberate. It’s not uncommon to find some double “ii”s in words at iiNet, such as our Liimitless broadband plans.

How strange that I have been with you for a number of years and seems I don’t exist.
I was thrilled and having full fiber to my house that zi signed up for the fastest plan available, but recently it has become slower and slower that I wish I could have stayed with Optus cable.
I stream some programs but now my system slows so much its hardly worth having
But as you don’t know me and the fact I have been a client for a few years guess that says it all.
Do you wonder where my money goes if im not known?

Hello John, if you are noticing a decline in speeds I would recommend speaking to our support team on 13 22 58 for assistance. If there has been some difficulty in locating your account I would advise providing the representative with either a reference number or a recent invoice number so that we can pinpoint the precise account in question and go from there.

We have just had NBN installed down in Gnarabup with iiNet and a bit disappointed so far, we have found the speeds slower than the old ASDL2 network and put this down to network congestion as the speeds are generally OK early morning but come ” Netflix hour” in the evening our speeds are dropping to below 1 Mbps and can’t actually down load Netflix ourselves! My advice would be to hold off changing over to NBN until they sort out the infrastructure which is clearly not coping with the huge amount of congestion in our neighbourhood.

Please stop glossing up NBN progress. I am sick of it when rollout is obviously going strongly in new areas and in new apartment blocks and making the figures look so good. Look at the rollout maps.
In our not-new part of Sydney , nothing – until…..
instead of our build date being last half 2016, the date disappeared. But then FTTN build in the area up to 1 block away from us started and has now been completed.
The best part is yet to come though. Our street was not included then but is now scheduled for last half 2019!!! 2 years away. And we are in the same small section of the same locality/suburb. There could not have been any possible logical reason not to complete the extra 5 or 6 streets in our locality at the same time.
That is why my neighbours and myself are hugely offside when NBN rollout gets glossed up.

I think the greatest problem that people have is that when they convert to the NBN their previous ADSL link is disconnected, and if the NBN link doesn’t work for any reason the ISP will not revert to the previous ADSL system and they are left with nothing. To make matters worse, the emphasis is on connecting new people and they are left by the wayside. I know several in this situation. One solution to this is to change provider when connecting to the NBN, as the new ISP has no interest in disconnecting the ADSL, and the new provider is not going to get any money out of you until the NBN works.

You make a solid point here. Once areas switch to NBN, they go into a status known as “cease sale” with Telstra Wholesale, meaning that no new ADSL/Naked DSL services can be connected, nor can old ones be restored.

I am sorry I ever connected to the NBN. It is slower, more drop-outs but more importantly for me I cannot use wi-fi on my mobile to have face time chats with my granddaughters. I have tried several times to contact support and have been on hold for what seems forever, so have given up trying. Someone PLEASE ring me so I can get this problem solved.

I am connected via NBN using iinet.
Working ON, however the FTN is a slower option – we appear to be stuck with it.
Should the FTP become available in my street I would follow up on cost as this configuration ould be much better.

Averaging 19Mbps on PC connected to iiNet router & 2-13Mbps on wireless (PC 16m from router). Yesterday (Sunday) it was so slow on wireless I gave up! I’ve bought a Kogan repeater ($25) but I can’t make that work properly (frustrating!). You also sent me a bridge kit which I thought was a bit over the top. Cheers

In your case, your area is locked into the Telstra infrastructure and so you aren’t able to move away from this. Realistically, the only way for NBN to enter your area would be for them to acquire the Telstra network infrastructure in your community or for them to overbuild it.

I am very disappointed with my NBN have had 12months, speed is not faster than DSL but I pay more. I had trouble getting phone connection then yes phone!!!! a few weeks no phone. still no phone was told to buy new phone I did, still no phone. I don’t think iiNet know how to fix it.

Hi Sally, if you’re still experiencing issues with your Netphone service then this is certainly something that we’ll want to be addressing. Please give our support team a call on 13 22 58 so that we can look into this further for you.

I have a pre-order in place and was told thatI would be scheduled to start on 21st July. I have yet to receive the equipment and I am not sure what the real status is at the moment. My ADSL2 is currently running at around 26kb/sec and has been doing so for about three month despitevarious efforts to fix – including a technician visit ( which put the problem down as a Telstra fault 100m from the premises). I just want some internet – ANY internet – that works. Your claims to be number one in customer service is somewhat farcical given the length of time it takes to get connected ( one callback took 6hrs and they made THAT call at 1230 in the morning!!) and the complete failure to deliver ANYTHING in three months …no WAIT! You HAVE managed to bill me for the full service for 3 months – pretty good at THAT!!
You really need to do something!

Hello Gary, this is far from what we want to see and I’m sorry that you’ve been experiencing ongoing issues. I have located you account and can see that a fault has been lodged, I have referred this to our faults team and asked that we follow up on this further and provide you with an update.

Had the NBN connected over the past three months. The modem was installed and it took many telephone calls before the changeover took place from the Optus HFC modem to the NBN HFC with a new Optus modem three months later.
Six months ago we got 100Mbs at the modem but at the time of the changeover we were getting 50 Mbs. We are paying for ‘up to 100 Mbs’ and getting 50Mbs some of the time. Dropouts are daily and freguent.

The bottom line is that we are incredibly disappointed and dissatisfied with the transfer of our services to the NBN.

NBN has indicated that they’ve started construction of the network in your area. Whilst you will eventually need to switch (failing to do so will see the wholesaler eventually disconnect your copper services, but you’ll be given a lot of warning), this is some time off yet, and you’ll have up to 18 months to do so once the NBN goes live.

We have just had NBN rolled out to our neighbourhood , Gnarabup, South West Australia and finding the Network Congestion is terrible as getting good speeds like 23Mbps early morning but dropping to .7Mbps in the evening most days. I am wondering what we can do to improve this situation as my wife who does most of her work from home evening onwards cannot even work at these speeds

Sorry to hear that your area appears to be suffering from congestion. We’ve been continually upgrading capacity for services where you are, so you should be seeing improvements in performance. We’re continuing to monitor this and are adding further capacity as required.

Hi IINET, did a speed check last night with Oz Speed Test at 18:30. Downloaded a 15 Mb picture. My connection speed was 4.85 Mbps. Just ran the same test on my Android phone connected to Telstra, and achieved 25.27 Mbps at 14:30 this afternoon at Varsity Lakes. I am not getting what I paid for with the NBN. It bad enough that IINET makes me waive any quality of service responsibility when creating an account. Now I have to suffer under performing NBN connection speed. I would appreciate a response.
Regards Lindsay Hulme.

The principles are the same across NBN connection types and we always recommend avoiding speed tests conducted via Wi-Fi or comparing results to other conenction types, as the results are often misleading. The best speed test is done via an ethernet cable connected directly to a computer with Wi-Fi disabled in the modem and devices.

You do have options when switching to NBN with costs reduced under contract availability. As far as the landline is concerned, if it is currently with Telstra, you will need to let them know that you’ve switched to NBN. If it is with us, we’ll handle it for you.

Just met a NBN techo guy this morning who was visiting to assess our connection. to his surprise we were already connected (HFC box installed) although no one had told him or ourselves.
The NBN website shows NBN not yet available for our address.
Just confirms other reports of how poorly organised the roll out is. We had been promised consultation on the connection methodology

NBN is almost here 4 me,& iinet has informed me the changes is soon BUT when i logged in to my toolbox iinet had given me another e=mail address ? WHY i want my e=mail from adam i have ALL my payments connected to MY e=mail? i DON’T want another e-mail address that will be put on me without my permission? can’t things run smooth with the NBN & leave address alown.

Chris,
I was sold the NBN by a phone salesman from IInet.I was told it was totally FREE. I went along with the installation only to find that it cost me $500 to have my home alarm kept operational. I have rung inept to no avail. I was advised I SHOULD have been told. Well I wasn’t or I would never have had it installed. I was also told the supervisor was in a meeting and would be rung back. Guess what?
I am still $500 out of pocket, so where to now? The Communications Ombudsman?
Well?

Monitored alarm systems are covered in the terms and conditions staff mention to customers at the time of signup and we do recommend the customers engage their alarm provider to discuss their requirements when moving to the NBN. Ultimately, it is the customer’s responsibility to ensure their internal equipment will be able to work with the NBN, including checking internal wiring, sockets and items like alarm systems. Having said that, we’re more than happy to pass this to the appropriate team to have the sales call pulled to verify that you were appropriately informed of the required terms and conditions, and to have the issue discussed with you.

If you’ve nominated to keep your Home Phone number, our team may be in the process of converting the number to a Netphone (VoIP) service compatible with the NBN. Best way to confirm the current status would be to touch base with our Support (13 22 58) team.

All I can understand is that NBN means faster internet. Other than that I have no idea what is involved. My phone is with Telstra and my internet provider is TPG. That’s how I want to stay. What must I do once NBN becomes available? How about someone giving basic information for dummies such as I.

NBN is a joke FTTN is a kilometer from my house and the Naked DSL was much faster. A waste of money and the government should hang their heads in shame. I paid for 12mbps and though it varies at best I get just over 3 Mbps. The technician said I would be lucky with 5 yet to see

This seems pretty standard concerning the NBN: “sorry, ring this number”. Has anyone read through these comments and replies and noticed a lack of any substance, or is it just me? I am an amateur radio operator, which means I talk with people all over Australia without any sort of filtering. I assure you there is a nightmare out their called NBN and it is coming to a screen near you.
PS. Chris should run for Parliament – not a question answered but plenty of polite evasion.

We are now on the NBN but it certainly isn’t as good as expected. In fact most of the time we don’t notice that our connection is any faster! Fortunately because of the plan we took out, now including our phone, it is not costing us any more. Just disappointed that it hasn’t really altered our internet experience.

Its a joke. The NBN team came to our neighborhood, put all the infrastructure in and then stopped connections at the property next door because they didn’t have the wire for the node to the house. That was six months ago!

Each time I check my status, i get an instruction to call 131917 and a note — more information required to check your address, and I have called twice and the note remains , so I am trying this approach — my address is
111 Coorooman Creek Rd
COOROOMAN
QLD 4702
Could somebody , deep in the bowels in iinet accept that the address above is correct and get the record correct

Hi Johanna, thanks for getting in touch! The Fetch TV service Netphone service are both completely optional and you do not require either to have a service with us (you may be provisioned with a Netphone service as it replaces a landline home phone but you will not be charged anything for it unless you make a call). If you had any further questions about our plans then all the details can be found on our website – https://www.iinet.net.au/internet-products/broadband/nbn/ – or alternatively please give our sales team a call who will be able to assist you further!

Hello! I’m about to move house and the property I’m moving to says more work is required to connect to nbn, however the neighbours on each side are connected to nbn and so is the rest of the street. How can I find out why it’s not connected and is it possible to be connected to nbn?
Thanks

Best to get in touch with our Sales (13 19 17) team, Rebecca. A Customer Service Representative will be able to confirm the service availability of your address with NBN and further question if there is any work required along with an expected ETA.

Hi, the map says we have fixed wireless coverage and I can see the tower from my backdoor 800 mtrs away but when I enter my address it says wireless not available, yet my neighbours, on a different address, can get

It sounds like you might be in an area where a secondary qualification is needed. If you haven’t done so already, have a chat to the Sales team on 13 19 17. They can grab your address, check it, then lodge a request to NBN, asking that your address/lot number be reviewed to confirm availability.

More than help to help with this – we’ve edited this post slightly just to preserve your parents privacy.

A look within the core systems reveals that the address concerned doesn’t exist! Now, we know that is wrong, but NBN doesn’t know anything about it. So, what we need to do is lodge a ticket with NBN, asking them to locate the address and assign it a Location ID (LOC ID). NBN will need to know where exactly the address is, so looking for the map co-ordinates on Google Maps will help. Once the address is within NBN’s systems, they’ll be able to determine if it is available for service.

You can request our sales team do this for you as part of a potential application via 13 19 17.

Hi IInet.
NBN has installed PCD to outside of my house.
Who does the inside connection box (and when) and does this mean NBN is available in area or are Installers working ahead of street installers? PCD was installed 2 weeks ago.
NBN area map tells me nothing and iinet support says they need to get notification form NBN.

This does depend on the speed of the rollout in your area and houses sometimes do have external equipment attached before the network rollout. It sounds like work is happening but construction timeframes can be six months or more, so you will need to be patient.

Search

Protecting the privacy of your personal information is important to us.
Check out our privacy statement to learn more about how we collect your information,
what we use it for, and who we share it with.